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Written by Andrea Maizel
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Wednesday, September 03 2008 |
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I still remember my very first taxi cab ride. I remember telling myself, "This is it, your first ride in a real New York City cab," as if it was some sort of prize that I had just won. It conjured up images from the movies where people, much cooler than myself, whistled loudly and three cabs came to their rescue. Very classy. But as soon I stepped into that coffin on wheels all those glamorous images went flying out the window.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, September 03 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Friday, May 30 2008 |
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One of the benefits of learning a second language is the ability to prank people with it. The majority of my days are spent trying desperately to catch up with locals who speak Spanish at the speed of a freight train. But there are occasional moments when I, the beginner, end up having the last laugh.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, September 03 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Saturday, March 29 2008 |
"Spanish is easy" Rose told me as I struggled to find the word for shut up in the dictionary. We were driving to dinner and the subject had come up for the second time that week. "Sure it's easy Rose, compared to say, Euskera or Sanskrit or HTML. It's easy compared to those" I explained. "But at the same time, it's kind of like chess. You can learn the basics in a day or two, but you need quite a few years to get really good."
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Thursday, March 06 2008 |
"Why the fuck do we need to learn this?" I remember the class clown once asking our English teacher who had required us to memorize a long, yet insignificant act from the famous play Othello; a lesson which I left wanting only to change my name to Iago. I was shocked however that our teacher even entertained the question.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Thursday, November 22 2007 |
Panama City, Panama (The Panama Report) I had been thinking long and hard about my invention of a toothbrush that you don't have to throw away, with bristles of such resistance that they simply don't wear old, when I realized it was November 22nd which, in the United States, is the day that fat people gorge themselves on yams and turkeys and cranberries, all in the name of some indians or something.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Tuesday, November 13 2007 |
Keenan's Spanish in Panama has improved immensely. He's gotten to a point where carrying a decent conversation or expressing an important to-do list is not anymore a struggle. And as luck would have it, the teachers we have, in part, to thank for this upturn are not real people but rather miniature Panama voices.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Saturday, October 13 2007 |
It was coincidentally the morning of my 25th birthday in Panama that the hands of father time appeared to be officially against me and the inevitable happened. After an exceptional number of years without a car accident, I finally broke the streak.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Wednesday, October 10 2007 |
It was my original belief that nothing fostered relaxation more than living in the tropics. Upon packing for my first trip down, I included the kinds of things totally unnecessary for a vacation, yet quintessential for the laid-back mindset that I was preparing to adopt. I packed a small comfortable beanbag chair for example, and a wind chime, and even Enya's latest album, something about saving the trees.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Friday, August 03 2007 |
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Having grown up in the scholastic town of Princeton, New Jersey people invariably assume I attended Princeton University. When they find out that I did not attend Princeton, they appear deceived and put off, as if somehow I was trying to pull a fast one. That is usually followed by the question, “well why didn’t you?” which makes my not going to Princeton seem like the stupidest mistake of my life.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Thursday, November 30 2006 |
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As an ex-pat in Panama I have unconsciously adopted a responsibility similar to that of an American ambassador, finding myself personally held accountable for a number of offenses that I was never even aware I had committed. It's not uncommon for me to take the heat for a variety of American faults as if not only did I represent all Americans, but I myself actually made the childish mistake of being born there.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, July 10 2006 |
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Upon arriving in Panama City I was warmly greeted by two of our lovely team members. The warmth that I felt from this new environment was experienced both from the blazing humidity outside and the hospitality of my new Panamanian coworkers.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Matt Landau
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Tuesday, April 25 2006 |
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I'm coming up on my three month anniversary after arriving in Panama back in January. I figured this'd be a good excuse to do a mini review on how life is down here, beyond the fact that I now know exactly how many days it takes me to go through a stick of Right Guard x-Treme. This'll be a progress report of sorts—though I won't be giving myself grades or requiring any parental or guardian signatures. Every three months I will write this report from my local dojo while snacking on fresh blintzes. This'll be quick though--won't hurt a bit.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, April 22 2006 |
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I have a confession to make: I'm 21 and have a drivers license, but I don't use it. It's not that I can't drive, just that circumstances have made it difficult for me to have a car available.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 11 2008 )
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